International HIV/AIDS investigator joins faculty

Convocation 2011, UMass Worcester, September 15, 2011

Jeremy Luban, MD, will be invested as the David L. Freelander Memorial Professor in HIV/AIDS Research on Thursday, Sept. 15.

Distinguished physician–scientist Jeremy Luban, MD, has been appointed professor of molecular medicine at UMass Medical School and will be invested as the David L. Freelander Memorial Professor in HIV/AIDS Research at Investiture on Thursday, Sept. 15, at 5 p.m. on the campus green. Dr. Luban will become the second incumbent of the David L. Freelander professorship, which was established by I. Robert and Aviva Freelander in memory of their son.

Luban’s national and international impact in the field of HIV/AIDs research is enormous and continues to grow every year. A native of Philadelphia, he earned his bachelor’s degree in biology at the State University of New York at Purchase, and his medical degree from Columbia University, where he later served as a faculty member. Luban is coming to UMMS from the University of Geneva in Switzerland, where he is professor of microbiology and molecular medicine. He has been working on HIV/AIDS and related cellular issues in infectious disease for nearly 30 years and one of his most significant contributions to the field is the discovery of cellular factors that are important for HIV-1 replication or which confer immunity to this deadly virus.

“Jeremy Luban is truly a ‘scientist's scientist’—innovative, inventive and passionate about not only his own research but the whole spectrum of biomedical science,” said Michael P. Czech, PhD, the Isadore and Fannie Foxman Chair in Medical Research, chair and professor of molecular medicine and professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology. “His breakthrough discoveries, including one just published in the journal Nature, continue to reveal unexpected and fascinating aspects of how HIV infects cells, and will potentially lead to new targets for therapies to prevent AIDS.”

Luban will also join the Center for Aids Research (CFAR) at UMMS where he will be integral member of the leadership advising CFAR Director Celia Schiffer, PhD, professor of biochemistry & molecular pharmacology. “We are thrilled to have Jeremy Luban as part of our CFAR community,” said Dr. Schiffer. “His collaborative and interdisciplinary perspective will allow the UMMS community to tackle questions in the battle against HIV/AIDS that weren’t previously within our reach.”

“It is exciting that Jeremy Luban is joining us as a senior distinguished faculty colleague in the Program in Molecular Medicine. He will be a spectacular addition to our faculty,” Dr. Czech said.